The first debate: 20 Competitors! 2 Nights! No Holds Barred!
I had considered not blogging about the Democratic debates>
It has all been covered, right?
But, you know posterity and all. My blog may end up being the only shred of evidence of the 2020 election (You never know!) and no one will believe how ludicrous it was that 20 candidates debated over two nights.
So here’s my thoughts and some thoughts I gathered from friends:
-Kamala Harris is the obvious winner of the debates. I know she was an early favorite but her numbers seemed to go elsewhere. It is interesting to note that part of the Dems desired quality is to be able to go toe to toe with Trump. Trump seemingly has owned Warren (the DNA test) but Harris’s experience as a prosecutor, seems to make her the type of candidate Dems might want.
- A friend whose opinion I greatly respect said (when it came out the next day that her Biden speech was preplanned), yes it was preplanned, but it was a master stroke and created an everlasting meme. It also appealed to reason and emotion.
-I asked a Warren guy if not being on the second night was a disadvantage. She did not get to share the stage with Biden, Bernie, Pete or Kamala. He told me- first question and center stage on the first night, and making everyone else play catch-up was an advantage you wouldn’t be able to buy.
- I suspect everyone already has an opinion on Biden and Sanders. I think we saw the very best and very worst of Biden in the debate. That will be the decision to make.
We got Bernie taking Biden on early, and Joe probably thought that was probably as bad as his night would get. When the moderators asked questions that required a response, I felt like Biden looked around before raising his hand.
John Delaney sure got buzz but it was the wrong kind. Delaney acting impatient (and also his looks) became a meme. Indeed, “the Airplane guy” stuck even when it was part of a larger meme that forever cemented in my mind that Leslie Nielsen will play Jay Inslee in the biopic. (Fast Company captured all of the best Delaney memes)
I was told from a watch party participant that there was one thing we could agree on and that was Marianne Williamson was crazy. While I couldn’t listen to her speak without envisioning Stevie Nicks spinning around in a forest, the winning meme was the person who put her debate speeches to Twin Peaks music.
-Cory Booker was seen as one of the winners, so it was interesting to me that someone I spoke to who had seen him in person, said that he was much more energetic in person than he appeared on stage during the debate.
-The media may or may not have crowned Tulsi Gabbard a winner, but she was. She brings an interesting blend of Bernie domestic and economic policy and Ron Paul global and social policy. To her credit, she stands out in a crowded field. Unfortunately, Dems I know have been wary of her. She put those worries aside by making a stand as a Democrat and gave a strong performance.
- Andrew Yang won one of my friends over by not wearing a tie. I can imagine how that conversation went. “Hey, Bernie! Andrew Yang here. What do we wear to these things? I am thinking blue jeans and a nice shirt. Too informal?”
Yang probably didn’t move the needle, but I liked his closing appeal to Libertarians and Independents (and Republicans for that matter). One wonders how many Democrats (the party of Russ Feingold and Mike Gravel after all) switched allegiances to vote for Ron Paul, Gary Johnson and a populist Trump for that matter, and might vote for a Justin Amash candidacy.
Eric Swalwell made a splash, but he may have alienated older voters in doing so. Tim Ryan made an impression, but he may have done better if he hadn’t been onstage. Gillibrand seemed to narrow her message to women.
John Hickenlooper came across as an old man on stage (even with Biden and Bernie there, a decade his senior). A friend mused if he might have wandered off stage during the commercial break.
Julian Castro won points and Jay Inslee did too. Inslee aired an ad during the debate. Bill DeBlasio and Ryan were losers. The media painted Klobuchar as her jokes being flat, but some one I talked to at a watch party said they hit. I also heard it said she seemed sad, and suffered in comparison to Warren, who was one of the nights winners.
DeBlasio’s debate performance came on the heels of a gaffe by quoting Che Guevara at a Union rally. Michael Bennet avoided gaffes but couldn’t seem to find his voice.
Beto O’Rourke became a meme. Although, I think his bilingual responses were appreciated in some quarters; he had a bad night in what looks like a sinking campaign. Pete Buttigieg may not have made much impression, but he knew it was better to stay quiet and get his points in, instead of making a Beto-type gaffe. This was okay.
- Beto, Warren and Delaney (to name a few) tweeted during the debate , which I can only think means that they had phones under the lectern high school style.
My takes may be a week old but my suggestions to liven up the next debate are evergreen. I will even throw in my suggestion for the Democratic Party.
That the two night debate occurred the same week as two-decade old reality stalwart Big Brother is a good reminder that politics is a reality show.
-Here’s a parlor game for the viewers. Try to figure who’s not on stage. In this case, it’s Seth Moulton, who missed his Tim Ryan style chance to screw up his campaign for good; Joe Sestak who decided that there weren’t enough candidates running; Mike Gravel who plans to run for President without leaving his house, and Wayne Messam who Marianne Williamson thinks is too obscure. Also missing Steve Bullock who has buzz in Iowa but didn’t make the stage.
- There’s so many candidates- let’s split them into two teams Survivor style. Have a weakness? Find someone with that strength. Let’s make it super awkward and have them pick teams Grade School style. Zoom in on those last standing. Perhaps the television audience votes them off one at a time.
-
-There is no hotter show than this Spring’s Masked Singer which took famous celebrities and put them in body sized costumes. The crowd guesses the singer by a list of clues. 1)Ain’t no party like a West Coast Party 2) ‘Ello Guv’nah 3) I live for grunge and Starbucks
- Big colorful spinning wheels are popular. Wheel of Fortune has been the biggest game show for decades. Questions could be put on and spun. It worked well for Elvis Costello and his Wheel of Songs tour
- I would every candidate that if they wanted to be President so much, why did they decide to run. Clearly, there was an election four years ago. Why didn’t they run in that one? Bernie could sit that one out if he chose. Biden would be given extra time to answer.
Lastly, the Dems did show a variety of talent and that means that the eventual nominee should take cues from Team of Rivals and father the best parts of the party- Bernie’s healthcare plan, Mayor Pete’s student loan debt relief outline, Swallwell’s gun control policy and Marianne Williamson’s essential oils.
Bonus Commentary: Since I waited so long to post this, I can add IowaStartingLine's coverage of the first post-debate poll which has Elizabeth Warren jumping over Biden (or more conservatively, Warren, Biden and Harris in a 3-way tie). That particular survey shows Harris and Warren surging, but also net ceiling gains for Buttigeig and Castro.
It is interesting to note that when divided into three groups- those who watched the debates, those who followed the debates but did not watch and those who did not watch or follow the debates, three different scenarios play out. Harris was the winner of the first group followed by Warren. Warren was the winner of the second group followed by Biden, and Bden was the winner of the third group, followed by Sanders.
It has all been covered, right?
But, you know posterity and all. My blog may end up being the only shred of evidence of the 2020 election (You never know!) and no one will believe how ludicrous it was that 20 candidates debated over two nights.
So here’s my thoughts and some thoughts I gathered from friends:
-Kamala Harris is the obvious winner of the debates. I know she was an early favorite but her numbers seemed to go elsewhere. It is interesting to note that part of the Dems desired quality is to be able to go toe to toe with Trump. Trump seemingly has owned Warren (the DNA test) but Harris’s experience as a prosecutor, seems to make her the type of candidate Dems might want.
- A friend whose opinion I greatly respect said (when it came out the next day that her Biden speech was preplanned), yes it was preplanned, but it was a master stroke and created an everlasting meme. It also appealed to reason and emotion.
-I asked a Warren guy if not being on the second night was a disadvantage. She did not get to share the stage with Biden, Bernie, Pete or Kamala. He told me- first question and center stage on the first night, and making everyone else play catch-up was an advantage you wouldn’t be able to buy.
- I suspect everyone already has an opinion on Biden and Sanders. I think we saw the very best and very worst of Biden in the debate. That will be the decision to make.
We got Bernie taking Biden on early, and Joe probably thought that was probably as bad as his night would get. When the moderators asked questions that required a response, I felt like Biden looked around before raising his hand.
John Delaney sure got buzz but it was the wrong kind. Delaney acting impatient (and also his looks) became a meme. Indeed, “the Airplane guy” stuck even when it was part of a larger meme that forever cemented in my mind that Leslie Nielsen will play Jay Inslee in the biopic. (Fast Company captured all of the best Delaney memes)
I was told from a watch party participant that there was one thing we could agree on and that was Marianne Williamson was crazy. While I couldn’t listen to her speak without envisioning Stevie Nicks spinning around in a forest, the winning meme was the person who put her debate speeches to Twin Peaks music.
-Cory Booker was seen as one of the winners, so it was interesting to me that someone I spoke to who had seen him in person, said that he was much more energetic in person than he appeared on stage during the debate.
-The media may or may not have crowned Tulsi Gabbard a winner, but she was. She brings an interesting blend of Bernie domestic and economic policy and Ron Paul global and social policy. To her credit, she stands out in a crowded field. Unfortunately, Dems I know have been wary of her. She put those worries aside by making a stand as a Democrat and gave a strong performance.
- Andrew Yang won one of my friends over by not wearing a tie. I can imagine how that conversation went. “Hey, Bernie! Andrew Yang here. What do we wear to these things? I am thinking blue jeans and a nice shirt. Too informal?”
Yang probably didn’t move the needle, but I liked his closing appeal to Libertarians and Independents (and Republicans for that matter). One wonders how many Democrats (the party of Russ Feingold and Mike Gravel after all) switched allegiances to vote for Ron Paul, Gary Johnson and a populist Trump for that matter, and might vote for a Justin Amash candidacy.
Eric Swalwell made a splash, but he may have alienated older voters in doing so. Tim Ryan made an impression, but he may have done better if he hadn’t been onstage. Gillibrand seemed to narrow her message to women.
John Hickenlooper came across as an old man on stage (even with Biden and Bernie there, a decade his senior). A friend mused if he might have wandered off stage during the commercial break.
Julian Castro won points and Jay Inslee did too. Inslee aired an ad during the debate. Bill DeBlasio and Ryan were losers. The media painted Klobuchar as her jokes being flat, but some one I talked to at a watch party said they hit. I also heard it said she seemed sad, and suffered in comparison to Warren, who was one of the nights winners.
DeBlasio’s debate performance came on the heels of a gaffe by quoting Che Guevara at a Union rally. Michael Bennet avoided gaffes but couldn’t seem to find his voice.
Beto O’Rourke became a meme. Although, I think his bilingual responses were appreciated in some quarters; he had a bad night in what looks like a sinking campaign. Pete Buttigieg may not have made much impression, but he knew it was better to stay quiet and get his points in, instead of making a Beto-type gaffe. This was okay.
- Beto, Warren and Delaney (to name a few) tweeted during the debate , which I can only think means that they had phones under the lectern high school style.
My takes may be a week old but my suggestions to liven up the next debate are evergreen. I will even throw in my suggestion for the Democratic Party.
That the two night debate occurred the same week as two-decade old reality stalwart Big Brother is a good reminder that politics is a reality show.
-Here’s a parlor game for the viewers. Try to figure who’s not on stage. In this case, it’s Seth Moulton, who missed his Tim Ryan style chance to screw up his campaign for good; Joe Sestak who decided that there weren’t enough candidates running; Mike Gravel who plans to run for President without leaving his house, and Wayne Messam who Marianne Williamson thinks is too obscure. Also missing Steve Bullock who has buzz in Iowa but didn’t make the stage.
- There’s so many candidates- let’s split them into two teams Survivor style. Have a weakness? Find someone with that strength. Let’s make it super awkward and have them pick teams Grade School style. Zoom in on those last standing. Perhaps the television audience votes them off one at a time.
-
-There is no hotter show than this Spring’s Masked Singer which took famous celebrities and put them in body sized costumes. The crowd guesses the singer by a list of clues. 1)Ain’t no party like a West Coast Party 2) ‘Ello Guv’nah 3) I live for grunge and Starbucks
- Big colorful spinning wheels are popular. Wheel of Fortune has been the biggest game show for decades. Questions could be put on and spun. It worked well for Elvis Costello and his Wheel of Songs tour
- I would every candidate that if they wanted to be President so much, why did they decide to run. Clearly, there was an election four years ago. Why didn’t they run in that one? Bernie could sit that one out if he chose. Biden would be given extra time to answer.
Lastly, the Dems did show a variety of talent and that means that the eventual nominee should take cues from Team of Rivals and father the best parts of the party- Bernie’s healthcare plan, Mayor Pete’s student loan debt relief outline, Swallwell’s gun control policy and Marianne Williamson’s essential oils.
Bonus Commentary: Since I waited so long to post this, I can add IowaStartingLine's coverage of the first post-debate poll which has Elizabeth Warren jumping over Biden (or more conservatively, Warren, Biden and Harris in a 3-way tie). That particular survey shows Harris and Warren surging, but also net ceiling gains for Buttigeig and Castro.
It is interesting to note that when divided into three groups- those who watched the debates, those who followed the debates but did not watch and those who did not watch or follow the debates, three different scenarios play out. Harris was the winner of the first group followed by Warren. Warren was the winner of the second group followed by Biden, and Bden was the winner of the third group, followed by Sanders.
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